New restaurant to take place of East Lyme pizza eatery

East Lyme - The recently closed Pizza Cucina restaurant on Boston Post Road in the Flanders section of town will be replaced by a new eatery, Il Pomodoro, operated by the owner of Buon Appetito in North Stonington.

Petrit Marku, owner of the Italian restaurant at the site of the former Dew Drop Inn, said Monday that he bought the Pizza Cucina building July 25. He said he has no specific target date for opening Il Pomodoro, his second restaurant, but hopes to extensively remodel the building before the public is invited inside.

"It has not been updated at all," said Marku, a contractor who is in the midst of building a new Dock 'n' Dine restaurant in Old Saybrook. "I'm going to try to expand it a little bit if I can."

Marku, a native of Albania and resident of Waterford, said the Italian restaurant will feature wood-fired pizzas, along with pasta, seafood and salads. He added that a pizza-making vehicle will be parked outside the restaurant on a temporary basis in the near future to introduce the public to the wood-fired pies he makes.

Marku said town officials have been very helpful in moving forward with approvals for his new restaurant at 117 Boston Post Road.